The invention relates generally to the field of outsourcing or offshoring of one or more applications of an organization. More specifically, the invention relates to a framework for supporting transition of the one or more applications from a first set of users to a second set of users.
The transition of applications involves transfer of management, support and execution of an entire business function supported by the applications to an external service provider. Applications that are transferred to the external service provider (or vendor) may include, software or Information Technology (IT) applications; applications supporting Information Technology Enabled Services (ITES), and business processes supporting at least one business function; and the like. A transfer agreement defining the transferred services is signed between the client and the supplier (or the external service provider). The transferred services include knowledge transition, and transfer of people, assets and other resources from the client. Knowledge transition includes due diligence, transition planning, monitoring, reporting, and knowledge transfer from incumbent resources to a vendor team, along with secondary and primary support and knowledge transfer to an offshore team. Due diligence involves obtaining a snapshot of the current portfolio (or the set of applications being transferred) and analyzing data collected for the portfolio. Transition planning is performed by a transition manager who also monitors and tracks data obtained from one or more transition team members, forming a part of the second set of users. Reports are collated and circulated to stakeholders or the client. Furthermore, knowledge transfer involves transfer of knowledge from a first set of users, such as incumbent resources, to a second set of users, such as vendor resources. In the first phase of knowledge transfer, the users from the vendor organization (offshore location) visit the client's location to interact with the Subject Matter Experts (SMEs). In the second phase, the second set of users returns to the offshore location to transfer the knowledge to the offshore team.
However, the current transition techniques are executed manually and most of the processes are executed on the client's location, thereby resulting in slow knowledge transfer to the offshore team. Also, a significant amount of resources needs to be present at the client's location, which increases transition costs and needs visa-ready resources in case of overseas travel. Further, the transition manager needs to formulate a detailed plan, which increases management overheads. In addition, collating information from numerous project plans for large transitions may not be accurate and meaningful insights may not be obtained from such plans. Also, it may be difficult for the transition manager to coordinate multiple execution tracks, such as infrastructure tracks, human resources tracks, and logistics tracks. Furthermore, the process of knowledge gathering is interaction intensive, depending on the interactions between the client SMEs, the onsite team, and the offsite (or offshore) team. It increases the possibility of knowledge leaks, knowledge loss, and inefficiencies in knowledge transfer, long transition periods, and high risks. Further, the knowledge is captured manually in various formats since it is not captured using knowledge capturing tools known in the art. Therefore, the knowledge capture and knowledge transfer phase is highly dependent on people, and is poorly scalable. Also, the current transition techniques have no or minimal client involvement in the various phases of transition, thereby resulting in zero or minimal transparency for the client. Moreover, the analysis of the applications is performed manually. The analysis process becomes tedious and laborious with an increase in the number of applications in the portfolio.
In light of the foregoing, there is a need for a framework which enables accelerated transition through collaboration between various participants of the transition and also reduces the cost and increases transparency during the transition process. The framework should use advanced knowledge management practices and should provide a centralized repository for sharing the captured knowledge.